Homemade classic recipe for radish

Winter is here, and we can eat radishes in large quantities again. Let’s take a look at some ways to eat radishes in winter. Here are some classic ways to eat them.

Eating radish in winter

Have you ever heard of this folk proverb: Eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, and you won't need to ask a doctor for a prescription. In winter, the weather is cold, and people eat more hot food, which can easily cause internal heat in the stomach. Radish is a cold food, so eating radish can dispel internal heat and promote the production of body fluids. Therefore, eating radish often in winter will prevent you from getting internal heat in the spring.

A "radish flower" blooming on the dining table in winter! Without radishes, the drugstores on the streets of Changsha would be very happy. As the saying goes: When radishes grow on the streets, drugstores become famous.

This winter, the most popular "radish dishes" in Changsha are still radish stewed with lamb and radish stewed with pork ribs. However, the casserole lamb soup made with carrots in the local restaurants in Wanjiali and Tianjiling areas has been widely praised, changing the previous situation where the whole city was eating white radish stewed with lamb, and making a new contribution to the innovation of "radish dishes".

Five classic carrot dishes

Winter is naturally a good season for eating radishes. Let us count down Changsha’s “five classic radish dishes”.

Radish peel

Become the protagonist of cold dishes

Changsha people also separate the skin from the flesh when eating radish. The most common radish peel dominating the dining table is not a long-standing story!

Around 2000, chefs began to put radish peels on the table, and once they were put on the table, the radish peels never came down. They were sold for 8 yuan or 12 yuan, and the cost was only a dozen yuan per pound on Bixiang Street, making a considerable profit. However, at that time, a restaurant in Changsha only made one portion of radish peels for 30 pounds of radish. Only the rich and the noble could afford the radish peels, which were as thin as a cicada's wing.

Around 2005, there was a trend of eating radish slices with chicken sauce on Changsha dining tables, but this Liuyang steamed dish method has disappeared in recent years.

The inconspicuous radish peel is "the most beloved cold dish of Changsha people."

Dried radish

Making Beijing Hunan cuisine famous

In the late 1990s, Hunan cuisine master Ping Jian opened up a glorious world for Hunan cuisine in Beijing with three dishes at Xiangjunfu in Beijing: fish head with chopped pepper, mashed sour beans and pork, and fried bacon with dried radish.

Dried radish is the most common dried vegetable for Hunanese people. It is made by drying fresh radish in the sun instead of in the oven. It exudes a strong "sun flavor". Although this dish is hard to find in Changsha, the dried radish with a "sun flavor" still remains in the memory of many Changsha diners about "radish dishes" because it absorbs the aroma of bacon.

Other dried radish dishes that once dominated the dining table include fried radish with duck breast, fried radish with chili pepper, etc.

Stewed mutton with radish to drive away the cold of winter!

Shredded radish

The fresh historical echoes in the crisp sound

The older generation of Hunan cuisine masters are all good at cooking "crispy shredded radish", and Master Wang Moquan is particularly good at it. The dish is slightly fragrant, sour and crispy. However, due to the complicated knife skills and the purpose of profit, most restaurants no longer have this dish!

Shredded radish is the most challenging part for Hunanese chefs to master. If you use a grater, the shredded radish will lose its toughness. It is best to cut it with a knife and add some salt to make it crispy.

Li Can, the chef of Dongtang Huogongdian, said that in October, the restaurant launched shredded radish meatballs, which were very popular among diners. Boiling crucian carp with the tender shredded radish is also a delicious dish.

In Hunan cuisine, classic "shredded radish dishes" include stir-fried shredded radish with beef, stewed lamb with shredded radish, and sour shredded radish. In addition, the shredded red and white radish in Liuyang "Hecai" is also quite delicious.

Stir-fried leeks with shredded carrots, a mix of Hunan dishes with radishes as the starting point.

Jar radish

Pickled spicy Hunan flavor

Speaking of jar radish, the most famous one is definitely in Jishou. The pickled radish with a light red glow is unforgettable after eating it once. Li Can told reporters that "colorful radish" can be divided into three types: pickled radish, also known as "rose radish", which is sold in the sauce garden; the golden one is pickled radish cubes; the black one comes from Guizhou and is called spicy radish cubes.

Most noodle restaurants in Changsha serve chopped peppers and radishes, which is very appetizing.

Dried radish and bacon, a well-known Hunan dish that was once very popular!

Lucky Radish

Stew away the winter chill

"When the villagers use firewood or charcoal to keep warm, cook and boil water, they like to put a clay pot next to the stove to simmer soup. Every family does this. They either stew pork ribs with radish or radish with chicken. The soup is delicious and pure while being simmered over a fire. The characteristics of this dish are original flavor, light taste, and natural and simple beauty."

In his article "Lucky Radish", Fan Minghui wrote about the most common stewed radish in the city: original flavor, homely. In fact, radish stewed with pork ribs, radish stewed with lamb, and radish stewed with bone marrow have always been people's favorite stewed radish. Just like the big pieces of radish in the "Healthy Pot" of Daronghe.

In addition, radish snacks include Jinling shredded radish cake and radish cake. Recently, stir-fried radish dishes include: shredded radish with shredded potatoes, shredded radish with lotus root strips, and radish slices with yam.